The Battle of Fort Frick and the Anarchist Assassin
Concluding our story of Andrew Carnegie's effort to break the unions at his Homestead steel factory, we look at how the plant boss Henry Clay Frick enlisted a private army of Pinkerton detectives to c...
9 Sep 44min
Andrew Carnegie's War with his Workers
In the first of two shows about the fight between the richest man and the unions at his Homestead steel plant - we look at why Andrew Carnegie decided that his workforce deserved a smaller share of hi...
2 Sep 39min
George Washington’s Trusted Tavern Guide: The Birth of the User Review
When America’s first president set off to tour his new country, he had no idea where to stay. George Washington slept in some taverns he described as dirty and grim, but also stayed at some delightful...
26 Aug 44min
The DeLorean Saga: Fraud, Drug Deals and Marty McFly's Car
This is a special crossover episode with Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford. John DeLorean was a top car executive - but he was too maverick to fit into the oppressive corporate culture of GM. He want...
19 Aug 48min
The Tangled Story of Instant Ramen
Momofuku Ando told the world he invented instant ramen noodles in a shed in his backyard. In Japan, there's not one, but two museums celebrating this breakthrough. Only Ando wasn't the first person to...
12 Aug 42min
Billy Beer: When American Beer Hit Bottom, Then Bounced Back
President Jimmy Carter had a brother, and this brother LOVED beer. Billy Carter was a big 1970s celebrity and a struggling brewery decided to bet on him to revive its fortunes. Together they created B...
5 Aug 41min
The Printing Press: The Invention Built on Debt and Sin
Before 1450, books were written out by hand. It was slow and expensive. But Johannes Gutenberg borrowed a ton of money to create a printing press that could crank out Bibles and pamphlets and document...
29 Jul 46min
The Robberiest Robber Baron: The Villainy of Jay Gould
Jay Gould became hugely rich without ever really making a product or offering a service to benefit his customers. Other "Robber Barons" in the 19th century forged steel or pumped oil to make money - b...
22 Jul 47min
